The science of pathological anatomy grew out of a tradition of clinical investigation in the hospitals of Paris in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Well before the introduction of the microscope into the physician's everyday practice or even his research effort, pathology was being advanced by means of efforts made at understanding critical problems relating to disease processes such as inflammation. The study here proposed will examine the history of this research program as it was elaborated by the followers and successors of F.X.V. Bichat in the Paris Hospital setting. Attention will also be given to English and possibly other correspondents. Published works, unpublished manuscript materials, student notes, and post-mortem reports will be examined in an effort at providing an explanatory framework for the growth of one aspect of the history of nineteenth century scientific medicine.